I'm going to find you a secretary much better than me.

But I.

See, I'm going to find you a secretary who knows the difference and cares.

I mean, why would you say LOL instead of just laughing at something?

I'm Greta Johnson. I'm Trisha Bobita. And this is the nerd I mean, why would you say LOL instead of just laughing at something?

I'm Greta Johnson.

I'm Tricia Bobita.

And this is the Nerdat podcast.

Greta.

Trisha?

So close to Dr. Who time.

Oh, wow.

You sound remarkably calm, given the number of hours you have until this happens.

I know. The 50th anniversary special simulcast worldwide, November 23rd. I'll be in a

movie theater with a lot of nerds. Are you like fasting or doing alms or what's your preparation

strategy here? Jammy Dodgers. What? Jammy Dodgers. It's sort of a shortbread cookie with jam in the

middle and one of the previous doctors. It was his very favorite snack and you'll hear them reference it a lot on the show. That's lovely. I'll have some Doctor Who related homework for you later on. But first, our guest this week is Anne Curzon, a linguist and professor at the University of Michigan. Unfortunately, I was unable to join you guys for this conversation. But luckily, we had Becky Veev available to help us out. She is a producer at WB.E.Z. And she's also a third-generation word nerd. We'll hear a little more from her later on in the show. But first, here's Anne Curzon. When I'm teaching the history of the English language, before I start class every day, the students teach me two new slang words.

And I learn all kinds of great words from them this way, including words like adorable,

which I love, which is when someone is adorable in a dorky kind of way.

And then last winter, they taught me about what they're doing with slash as a conjunction, where they can use

it in a sentence such as that new coffee shop is great.

Slash, do you want to go there on Tuesdays?

...